Redemption
by BassEX
Summary: Can Dimentio ever achieve redemption? Does he want to? With the help of Jaydes and her new rehabilitation program he may. And Jaydes herself has Mimi to help her! NOTE: Chapter 3 up!
1. Chapter 1

_**Redemption**_

It was a few minutes after the Void had closed and the Underwhere had stopped being shook like a rag doll when the D-Man known as Harold ran up the marble steps leading to Queen Jaydes, with a worried look on his face. Harold was a typical D-Man in appearance, with a red demon-like form and a white suit. Yet most could recognise him because he was constantly hurriedly running about and muttering something under his breath. He almost always had some sort of paperwork tucked under his arm, like a clipboard or folder. This was because he loved to work, and had a fierce loyalty to Queen Jaydes, meaning he was constantly working. This quality of his had grown so legendary there were several rumors circulating the Underwhere to explain this strange virtue. The most popular one in the last few decades was that he was trying to show his thankfulness to Queen Jaydes for saving him from a boring life as a Shayde (or Nimbi).

Because of all this, it surprised no one when he still scurried about the Underwhere while everyone else celebrated the aversion of the prophecy and the unofficial day-off Queen Jaydes issued.

Harold came up to Queen Jaydes, who was talking animatedly on her cell-phone. He made a small cough to get her attention. Queen Jaydes turned around and, seeing Harold's worried face, immediatly put her cell-phone on hold. Harold was always serious, especially around his superiors (of which there were few, since he did his job so well).

"What is it, Harold?"

"Your highness, I saw **him**!" he exclaimed rapidly. Queen Jaydes frowned.

"**Him**? What do you mean?"

"Well, you know, the holder of the Dark Prognosticus. The guy who wanted to destroy all worlds. Umm... the Count guy! Right, the Count guy." he said after some brief thought, snapping his fingers at the same time.

"What?! I felt something, but it did not feel like Count Bleck at all! And besides, how did you see him? Was he right next to you? Did you see his figure in the distance? Or..." she trailed off.

"Well, I saw a flaming comet, your highness. It fell somewhere past those hills right before the tremors stopped. It's rather unlikely to be a coincidence, especially with flaming comets being rather special on their own..."

"I know, Harold, but the feeling I got was ditinctly unlike that of Count Bleck." she said, rather flustered. Was it really Count Bleck? She mused on the matter, but was interrupted by a D-Man running up to her. It was Jonathan. Jonathan was a renowned gossiper, and also a "Manger of D-Man Resource Entertainment". Or barkeeper.

"Your highness!" he said. Queen Jaydes frowned at him.

"If you are here to ask about the milk supply, I'm **NOT **the person to go to first!"

"No, not that, your highness!" Queen Jaydes sighed. What else could he bother her with?

"Oh, then what?"

"Well, there are rumors going around-"

"I don't want to hear them right now, Jonathan." Queen Jaydes glared at him.

"Trust me, your highness, it's important! So, there are rumors going around about that battle Mario had with Count Bleck. To stop the prophecy. Apparently, Count Bleck is still alive. But that's not the main point. The main point is that after he was defeated by the heroes, Dimentio -a minion of his, who's also a jester- took control of the situation in a coup d'etat. Using the Chaos Heart as power, he turned into something weird, but was still defeated by the heroes! That's the bare bones of it all. The rest of the details keep changing every minute! Last I heard, the Count and Tippi, that Pixl you saw, got married. Then his secretary killed herself. Apparently." he said. He saw the looks on the faces of Queen Jaydes and Harold, and ran back to the tavern with a broad smile on his face to get more news. Meanwhile, Queen Jaydes quickly shook herself out of the small shock she just had.

"That was a trainload of information. So, it may be Dimentio... which would work pretty well actually. But we'll see." she said. Harold nodded.

"Well, whoever it is, we need to recover him before he runs amock in the Underwhere, and quickly. D-Man Security Brigade, TO ME!" she yelled. Almost immediatly twenty D-Men in blue suits ran up to her in single file.

"YES, YOUR HIGHNESS!" they yelled in unison. The one at the lead bowed.

"What task is required of us?" he said.

"There, somewhere past those hills," Queen Jaydes said, pointing to them in the distance "a soul fell in a burning comet. I want you to retrieve him and bring him _directly_ to me. Understand?" she said. He nodded.

"Captain Charles shall please you, your highness!" the D-Man saluted. The D-Men then turned around and marched in the general direction of the hills Queen Jaydes had pointed to.

"Well, better get ready for whoever it is." said Harold. Queen Jaydes silently nodded.

---

He opened his eyes slowly. Soon, he could make out a jagged and rocky floor. After a while the rest of his senses came back to him. He felt his arms tied up tightly, as well as his legs. He could also feel chains.

He was being slowly and lightly dragged somewhere. He looked up. A D-Man stared at him.

"Captain Charles, he has woken up!" the D-Man yelled.

"He did? Finally!" said another D-Man, one that was official-looking and walking up to him.

"I didn't say to stop, you know?" the official-looking D-Man said, and then looked squarely at Dimentio.

"Dimentio, I presume your name is?" said this... Captain Charles. Dimentio kept silent, but nodded.

"Well, I am Captain Charles, and you are being sent to Queen Jaydes."

"Yes, yes... I can tell." said the magical jester wearily, and let out a heavy sigh. Captain Charles raised his eyebrow. Dimentio knew exactly what thoughts this Captain Charles was having in his head, such as "Why isn't he taunting me?" "Why isn't he smiling?" and "Why isn't he dishing out similes like a soft-ball throwing machine?". Perhaps it was a left-over from the days Dimentio was a chessmaster at the game of life that Dimentio could read people's faces. Back then, when he had the world at his fingertips...

Eventually, Captain Charles seemed to be unnerved enough at his demeanor that he decided go back to the front of this brigade of D-Men dragging Dimentio. Dimentio gave a small sigh of relief, since the Captain was bothering him. He did not want to be reminded that people who knew of him were seeing him without his typical mask of self-confidence and mockery. It pained him that he could put on his mask.

But the pain came from his defeat. He was numb at first, when he lied on the ground in front of the heroes. And besides, he had a back-up plan. Should he be defeated, he would take the world down with him. All worlds even. No one would be able to laugh at him, to shame him! There would be no victor over Dimentio. At least, that was his plan. But as things grew dark for Dimentio, he realized he had been truly defeated, as he was lying in the Underwhere which was not supposed to exist. And then all was dark. And all of his plans ruined. Everything he had done was a failure...

He shuddered in anger and shame. Had he been untied he would have been beating his fist in anger. He could barely keep silent as his emotions compelled him to scream out curses and threats at his enemies. But he slowly and steadily calmed himself.

Being calm, however, did not bring Dimentio respite from the negative emotions plaguing him. Sadness and depression filled the void of anger, as well as regret. He tried to distract himself, but this was a futile jesture. His thoughts came back upon the subject of his defeat.

He mused darkly on his current state. He was extremely weak after his defeat. Captain Charles didn't even need to tie him up, especially so tightly. Dimentio could barely levitate, much less bring any harm to anyone. He had no strength left. He was practically lucky he was being dragged, and not being forced to march with the rest of the D-Men. Needing some lowly D-Men just to get around... Being at their mercy... it was the most shameful and embarrassing thing Dimentio had ever felt.

And constantly, constantly that Pixl's words flashed through his mind, leaving a burning trail of anger in their wake. He was a failure. He had made that one glaring mistake of trusting the Dark Prognosticus fully. Yet was that his only mistake? Bleck, Mimi, O'Chunks, Nastasia, all of them had believed in it. Yet they had all chosen the winning side in the end. He was the only one to suffer defeat out of all of them. The only one to be sent to the Underwhere. Where had he erred so grievously?

He shook himself, but it was of no use. He had fallen like a house of cards after one defeat. He had little control over his emotions. He had no powers. He was at the mercy of D-Men in the Underwhere. He was nothing.

Dimentio felt another surge of emotion. For a moment, his eyes were wet. But he quickly shut his eyes and forced down his emotions. Hopefully nobody had seen that, a window into his very soul. Yet, as he looked around, the D-Men just marched onwards with little care. He sighed.

The D-Men marched silently in the direction of Queen Jaydes, and Dimentio lost himself in his thoughts.

---

Author's Note: Yes, I made a rather large edit, though the basic formula of the chapter stayed the same. Hopefully, it's better. If it's not, review and protest my change!

And a very big **_thank you_** to Dimention for reviewing my story and giving me the will to chug on. Chapter 2 is in the works.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Redemption**_

**Chapter 2**

Over the course of the next few days, Dimentio sank deeper into gloominess and depression. He did not truly care about life anymore, and barely noticed events happening around him, no matter how disruptive they were. One could arguably justify this. What fate awaited Dimentio in the Underwhere? Nothing very pleasant.

However, Captain Charles and the rest of the D-Man Security Brigade did not share Dimentio's demeanor. They were fighting for their very lives against the creatures who lurked in the farther reaches of the Underwhere. Considering the place was full of those barred from the Underwhere this was to be expected, but the number of them and their hostility made Captain Charles worried.

"Many of these things should be rotting along with Bonechill, don't you say?" said one of the brigadiers. Captain Charles nodded grimly. He hated the mention of Bonechill's name, for he considered his failure to recapture Bonechill his greatest shame. Many heard him mutter under his breath or in his sleep Bonechill's name in anger, along with something along the lines of "I should've stopped him!". However, unlike Dimentio Captain Charles had no time to brood on his shame, as yet another band of enemies came up to attack the Brigade.

"Geez, when will this end?" the Captain muttered.

And so this went on for days. Yet just as the Brigade was starting to succumb to fatigue, they spied the Twygs River in all it's ...purple glory in the distance. This gave such a morale boost to the Brigade that the brigadiers started chatting amongst themselves of home, even though Captain Charles frowned upon it.

Soon, they finally came up to the old marble steps leading up to Queen Jaydes. However, when they came up to her, she frowned at them.

"Two weeks, Charles. Two weeks! That was not the time scale I was looking for." she said.

"Your highness, I am sorry for my tardiness, but I believe this is the fastest we could've come back. The Underwhere is positively crawling with enemies (and I'll have to talk to you about that later), and besides, he landed far away from here. Very far." said Captain Charles, in an odd mix of apologetic and defensive.

"Two weeks? That long?" said Dimentio, who by then had been dragged to the front of the Brigade. Queen Jaydes' eyes widened. She whirled around.

"Clear out my schedule! This is going to be a long one." she said to her D-Man assistants. They started running around frantically, making calls, posting notes, scribbling things down, etc. Queen Jaydes was quite busy, and clearing out her schedule was no easy task.

Meanwhile, Dimentio sighed. He knew he was going to get a long lecture and get some sort of especially horrible punishment, perhaps worse than Bonechill's prison. As he waited, he thought of the various punishments he could receive and grimaced. Finally, Queen Jaydes turned around.

"Untie him!" she said. Captain Charles frowned at her.

"Go on. Untie him." she repeated. Captain Charles started to protest.

"But-"

"No 'buts'! I order you to untie him!" she said. Captain Charles frowned and hesitantly untied Dimentio. Dimentio rubbed his arms for the first time in several days.

"Well, that was not so bad, was it?" Dimentio said angrily to Captain Charles.

"Tsk, tsk, Dimentio. You're not in the best position to be complaining. But, anyway, follow me." she said. She turned around and walked slowly. Dimentio clumsily followed after her, barely keeping up.

---

The two of them walked inside Queen Jaydes study. It was rather spartan, containing only gray walls obscured by the many drawers, cabinets, and mounds of paperwork Queen Jaydes used. There was a brown desk and two chairs on opposite sides of the desk.

Queen Jaydes motioned to the chair in front of the desk, while she sat down behind the desk. Dimentio nodded and sat down in front of her. There was a brief silence as Queen Jaydes tried to decipher Dimentio's odd behavior, but soon she decided to continue as planned. She took out an antique scale and placed it on the desk.

"Well, Dimentio, as you can see," she took out two large stacks of paper, one much larger than the other "we have a lot of info on you. It is obvious where you would go should I weigh your sins, however. Are we agreed?" she said, looking at Dimentio's reaction closely.

"Yes." said Dimentio with a sigh. How long would he have to wait until his sentence was given?

Queen Jaydes raised her eyebrow. Dimentio was certainly acting unlike himself. Was it an act he was putting on for the occasion, or ...what? It almost flustered her, but she decided to continue.

"Good. We are reading the same book, though most definetly not on the same page. As they say." she said. Dimentio just shrugged. She continued.

"And so, I was thinking lately. All of you... evil-doers and what not get sent to the Underwhere prison, where you rot forever. Your potential is never utilised properly. It's a shame, really. So, I thought 'We have an eternity to fix these villains up. Why not use that chance? If they fail, they get punished anyway, and no one is harmed. If it's a success, then everyone benefits.' Good thing all around, no? And so I drew up a special rehabilitation program for you, Dimentio. I shall drag you back to the plains of sanity from the abyss you reside in. And based on you, I shall do the same to others like you. Isn't it great?" said Queen Jaydes. Dimentio stared at her with his mouth open.

"Oh, and don't worry if you think you'll be free to frolic and do evil out in the dimensions again. I'll watch you very carefully. But, first you have to agree. Continue?" she said. Dimentio closed his mouth and composed himself. What was going on here?

"Very well, I shall play along with ...this." said Dimentio, finally. Queen Jaydes nodded and then muttered something under her breath. Dimentio suddenly felt a cold wind pass him by, even though the room did not have a breeze of any sort. He frowned.

"Jaydes, what just happened?" he said. In reply he heard Queen Jaydes' voice... but her lips didn't move!

_It's part of my program for you, Dimentio. _Dimentio's eyes widened. Was she inside his head?!

_Yes, that is correct. I can read your mind as part of the program and follow you and your thoughts! _said the voice inside his head. Dimentio decided to reply mentally as well.

_But that's... rediculous! I don't want my mind to be read. _

_Well, too bad. And too late, to add. Besides, is this worse than your other punishment?_

_Possibly... _

_Oh well. I've got to reign you in somehow, and most of the rehabilitation process is going to be psychological. _

_I feel so.. naked. And violated!_

_You were just whining inside your head about how not being your usual self makes you feel naked, so maybe you should be less sensitive? _

_You can read my __**MEMORIES**__ as well? Oh, great. _

_Memories are a part of your mind, no? And besides, they provide me with information to make my task that much easier. _

_Sigh. It seems I shall have to live with you... in my head. So, what does this plan entail? _It was then that the two noticed they had not moved at all and were staring at each other blankly during their mental back-and-forth. Dimentio decided to say something.

"Well?" In response, Queen Jaydes looked over the stack of papers. Then she snapped her fingers, in the way one does when one comes upon a sudden solution to a problem.

"Oh, I know where to send you. How about to Merlee's Mansion." she said. Dimentio frowned.

"Merlee's Mansion... why? Wait a minute... Wasn't Mimi there?" he said.

"Yes, exactly! And she lives there now." she said, starting to smile rather menacingly.

"But, she's going to kill me! Are you going to rehabilitate me or just punish me?" Dimentio said, with a tone of desperation in his voice.

"Look, Dimentio, I know what I'm doing. Don't question me. Now, go on, have fun!" she said, and in a flash Dimentio was gone.

"Phew. Now I can guide him without talking to him..."

---

Author's Note: And so, we have Chapter Two. Once again, thank you Dimention, and thanks as well to the 33 visitors who read my story. Remember, Chapter 1 was edited!

Please review to give me help.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Redemption**_

**Chapter Three**

Dimentio blinked, and saw the dusty, dimly lit halls of Merlee's Mansion. And sniffed in that smell of decaying wood ...or something worse. He decided not to think about too much, because he feared if he knew the truth he would not breathe there again. At the very least he did not see Mimi, and hopefully he could figure out a way to meet her with any harm being done to his person as a result. Feeling inexplicably woozy after the transportation, perhaps because he was still very weak from his defeat, he turned around, and - WHAM!

Dimentio had no time to see anything but a flash of yellow. He felt something hard connect to his face and went flying a surprisingly (relatively) long distance across the hall and smashed into the floor face down. He was taken completely off-guard. But his attacker needed to only utter one phrase for Dimentio to understand what was happening.

"YOU DUMMY!" said everyone's favorite shape-shifting girl. Dimentio turned over to face her. She was extremely angry, as evidenced by her grimace. She pulled out some red rubees from her yellow purse which she held (and had apparently hit him with). Dimentio immediately sensed what was going to happen and hid his face. Just as he had thought, Mimi immediately started throwing those rubees with painful accuracy.

"Mimi..." he said weakly. Mimi did not stop; if anything, she started to throw the Rubees harder and became angrier.

"SHUT UP! You BETRAYED us! How COULD you! You *sniff* DOOFUS!" she said in a high-pitched voice, her face twisting as she broke down crying. Her tears started streaming down her face, and soon her yellow dress with white polka-dots was being ruined by her tears despite her best efforts. Dimentio found this dual display of sadness and anger to quite odd, and also rather frightening.

_Jaydes, can you read me? I know you're there! Get me out of here! _he thought desperately.

_I'm reading you clearly Dimentio. _came the reply. Mimi gradually started coming closer, throwing rubees at the same time.

_Well, what are you waiting for?_

_I'm not going to 'get you out of there', Dimentio. _

_WHAT? She's going to end my game at this point! She's as unstable as me! ...If not more. _he thought. He started crawling away from Mimi and her rubees, but given his weakness he knew it was futile. To his annoyance, he was also being covered in dust and dirt from the floor, ruining his favorite (and currently only) poncho.

_She's right, you know. And she has a right to do whatever she wants with you. She has redeemed herself. _

_But what about __**my**__ rehabilitation? _he thought. Before he could 'hear' the reply he was interrupted by Mimi who had finally gotten close enough to start kicking him in the ribs, while crying at the same time.

"Ow! Ow! Mimi, STOP!" he finally burst out. That did not seem to faze her.

"NO! After *sniff* what you've done to the Count, and Nassy, and all of us, you want *sniff* mercy? NO! You're a filthy TRAITOR!" she yelled. Dimentio did not have anything to counter that with. His mind raced on how to calm her down, or at least make her stop beating him to a pulp. In a final burst of energy, he spanned his fingers and tried to teleport. Nothing happened.

_Jaydes, have you STRIPPED ME OF ALL MY POWERS? _he thought. No reply. It seemed she wasn't even bothering at this point. And Mimi was still kicking him, as well as throwing rubees when he had the chance. Then, it finally came to him - his mouth, that is. Without consenting his mind, his lips moved.

"Mimi... I'm so-" he abruptly stopped. Apologize? To her, or any of THEM? Never! Thankfully Mimi didn't notice. But Jaydes did.

_Yes, say it! SAY IT! It's your first step, Dimentio! _he heard in his head. But Dimentio vehemently disagreed.

_I shall NEVER apologize to them, Jaydes! NEVER! You have to live with that! _

_Well, enjoy getting beaten to a pulp, if you think so. _he heard in reply. Damn. There was no way out. He would have to say it. How hard would it be? Just say 'I'm sorry'. Right? And so he suddenly said "Wait!" and got up. Mimi paused, looking at him with tears still running down her face, though slower than before. Hesitantly, Dimentio started to say it.

"Mimi, I'm s- bleh." he could not bring himself to finish. He started again. "I'm so... sor... sorry. I'm sorry. For what I did. Much like a man is sorry for murdering his beloved wife in the heat of anger." That went farther than he had intended to, but it was good enough... hopefully.

Mimi looked at him, blinking. Then, she hugged him with her thin arms and started crying on his shoulder. Dimentio was taken aback at this, to say the least.

"Why did you *sniff* betray us, Dimentio? We had *sniff* so much fun together! We could've been friends! You, me, O'Chunks, and Nassy!" she said in between her crying. Dimentio recoiled inwardly. Friends? She was stretching it, to be sure. He may have pulled pranks, but it was only for entertainment. He was above all this comradery. Right?...

Mimi continued berating him in between her tears for betraying them, and so Dimentio just let her cry without listening too attentively. He was rather happy he was not being beaten and that was enough.

_Well, well, well, Dimentio. What did I say? You took your first step towards rehabilitation. _'said' Queen Jaydes in a happy tone.

_Oh, quiet. _angrily replied Dimentio.

_I can read your thoughts, so there's no need to be defensive. You just can't defend yourself. _

_Sigh. Very well. _replied Dimentio, who was becoming flustered at how he was being read like an open book.

By this time Mimi had finally stopped crying and was wiping her eyes.

"Gosh, Dimentio, you made me ruin my favorite dress!" she said with a smile.

"Well, you completely destroyed my poncho and beat me to a pulp!" retorted Dimentio.

"And you betrayed my friends and tried to kill all of us! ...But you said sorry. And you said it with one of your similes! So, apology accepted." she said. Then she got a mischievous look.

"Well, mostly! Tee hee!" she giggled. "I don't know where you came from, and you could lie anyway, so I can't exactly trust you. So, one, you'll have to stay here for now so I can keep an eye on you; and two, you'll be my slave for some time!" she said. Dimentio stared at her.

_Jaydes... don't tell me..._

_Yes, Dimentio, you'll have to listen to her. This is going to be part of your rehabilitation. Have fun! _Mentally, Dimentio started hurling expletives left and right. However, he simply closed his eyes and took a deep breath on the outside. Then, he finally said

"...Fine." Mimi responded with a gleeful "Yay!".

"So, let's have a grand tour! First, your new bedroom. Assuming you sleep. Right?" she asked. Dimentio simply nodded.

_Should I have taken the other punishment instead? _he thought.

---

Author's Note: Thank you, 56 visitors from all over the world! However, I would like for my readers to review. I need some sort of commentary! It feeds me, as a writer. And it will help me write a better story for all of you 56 (and going up). As a note, I will probably edit this one a lot, but I need to update.

And as always, thank you **Dimention**!


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